Hera
Hera Hera is the queen of gods and the god of marraige. Even though she is the queen of the universe she is a very jealous and vengeful queen. Zeus is a man who likes to try new things and one of those things are occasionally wives. Zeus has mated with different gods minor and major as well as some that are even mortal. But in the end he always returns to Hera. But she always seems to be hostile to not only the other wives of Zeus but also the offspring of his wives. When Heracles, son of Zeus and the mortal Alcmene, was a baby she put a snake in his carriage to attack the young baby. She has also gets cross with mortal that don’t agree with what she thinks. Such an example is the mortal prince of Troy, Paris, who thought that Aphrodite was the most beautiful god instead of Hera. Hera's Wrath Hera simply despised the hero Heracles! Heracles was the offspring of Zeus and the mortal Alcmene. When Heracles was just an infant Hera, came up with a plan to kill Heracles by putting a snake in Heracles’s carriage that was planned to kill him. But instead Heracles strangled the snake. Hera stopped torturing Heracles for a while to come up with a new plan. Heracles grew up to be a very successful hero saving people and killing beasts. But when Heracles settled down and had two kids and a wife that is when Hera planned to strike. Hera turned Heracles temporally mad causing him to kill his wife and children in a fit of rage. When Zeus had realized what he had done he gave him a chance to redeem himself. He told him to go to the King Eurystheus and perform 12 labors. He agreed and he did perform these labors until he got to the 9th labor when he had to obtain the girdle of Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons. Zeus gained to trust of Hippolyta and she agreed to give Heracles the girdle. But then Hera spread rumor that Heracles has going to attack Hippolyta and Hippolyta attacked Heracles. Heracles decided that he had to kill her before she killed him and so he did. He then took the girdle and went on his merry way to King Eurystheus. He performed the rest of the labors and when he finished he performed many other tasks. But several years later, rumor tells Deianira, a lover of Heracles, that she has a rival for the love of Heracles. She gives Heracles a bloodstained shirt. Lichas, the herald, delivers the shirt to Heracles. However, it is still covered in the Hydra's blood from Heracles' arrows, and this poisons him, tearing his skin and exposing his bones. It was such a tragic end to such a righteous hero. But Zeus took pity on him and turned him into a god and let him live on Mount Olympus. The Trojan War There are many variations of the Trojan War. All the gods and goddesses as well as various mortals were invited to the marriage of Peleus and Thetis She was annoyed at this, so she arrived with a golden apple inscribed with the word "for the fairest one" which she threw among the goddesses. Aphrodite, Hera, and Athena all claimed to be the fairest, and so that meant that they were the rightful owner of the apple. The goddesses chose to place the matter before Zeus, who, not wanting to favor one of the goddesses, put the choice into the hands of Paris, a Trojan prince. After bathing in the spring of Mount Ida the goddesses appeared. The goddesses undressed and presented themselves to Paris naked, either at his request or for the sake of winning. Still, Paris could not decide, as all three were ideally beautiful, so they resorted to bribes. Hera offered Paris control over all Asia and Europe, while Athena offered wisdom, fame, and glory in battle, and Aphrodite offered the most beautiful mortal woman in the world as a wife, and he accordingly chose her. This woman was Helen, who was, unfortunately for Paris, already married to King Menelaus of Sparta. So Paris chose Aphrodite and Aphrodite aided him in abducting Helen. The other two goddesses were enraged by this and through Helen's abduction by Paris they brought about the Trojan War. The Trojan War 2 Athena, Aphrodite, and Hera were always bickering about who was better. They were all jealous of each other. So one day Athena, Aphrodite, and Hera had a beauty contest. Their judge was none other than the prince of Troy, Paris. They all persuaded him that they should choose them. Athena promised Paris unlimited knowledge, Hera offered Paris power, but Paris agreed with the promise of Aphrodite. She promised marriage with the most beautiful woman in the world which was Helen. So Paris agreed that Aphrodite was the most fairest of them all. Aphrodite true to her word cast a spell on Helen that made her in love with Paris. Then Paris went to her kingdom and kidnapped her. Athena did not agree with this action for many reasons and not just because she was angered because she lost the contest. She thought that putting a spell on Helen was breaking the true love that Helen had with King Menelaus and Athena could already she that this would cause some trouble. She was right because the Trojan War broke out between Sparta and Troy in attempt to get Helen back to Sparta. Each god sided with either Sparta or Troy. Poseidon and Aphrodite sided with Troy and Zeus and Athena sided with Sparta. Athena’s clever thinking with the Trojan horse helped Sparta win the Trojan War. Bibliography "Browsing DeviantART." Browsing DeviantART. Web. 16 May 2012. . Hera." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 17 May 2012. Web. 17 May 2012. .